Brooder.



E. ROWE.

BROODER. APPLICATION FILED FEB. II. I9I5.

Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

UlHLLJIHIHUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII...y557- \z\ W :l2 125 '26 Vgl E. ROWE.

BROODER.

APPLICATION FILED rE. 1I. 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. ROWE.

BBOODER.

APPLICATION 11.50 FEB. 11. 1915.

11,16%@ Patented 1160.28, 1915.

0LUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO..WASHINGTON. D. c.

VEDWARD gown, or Hum), NoRrI-LDAKQTA.

BROODER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'DeciLQjl.

Application ledjFebruary 11, 1915. Serial No. 7,568.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD Bown, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hurd, in the county of Bottineau and. State of North Dakota, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Broeders; and I do declare the vfollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the Vart to which it vappertains to makeand use the same.

My invention relates to poultry culture and more particularly to improvementsin broeders.

The main object ofv the inventionis `to provide a device of this character so constructed as to allowo nly a predetermined number of chicks to enter the device, thereby preventing them from overcrowding and producing the numerous undesirable effects caused thereby.

To theabove end, further objects of the invention become to provide novel means for automatically closing the inlet and outlet openings of the device, and to equip the closure for the outlet with means wherebyV it may be openedby the weight ofa fowl.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device-which will be very simple in construction, which may be easily and inexpensively manufaetured,` and which will readily perform the functions for-which it is designed.

With the above objects in view, the inventicn resides in certain novel features of construction `and combination hereinafter described and vclaimed and shown in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a brooder constructed in accordance with the invention; Figs. '2 vand 2u are longitudinal sectionsA as seen along the planes of the lines 2-2 and QSL-2 of Fig. 1, respectively, these views showing the relative positioning and condition of the inlet and outlet when the depressible tray is raised or in normal position; Figs. 3 and 3a are views similar to Figs. 2 and 2 and sho-wing more particularly the relative positioning of parts when the depressible tray is lowered by the weight of the fowls thereon; Fig. 4 is a `vertical transverse section as seen along the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic horizontal sectional view showing a modified form of construction.

In these drawings, constituting a part of this application, the numeral 1 designates a rectangular' casing having a solid bottoni i2, four upright side Walls 3 and a hinged top 1, this top being provided withV a hot air vent 5, as is common in devices of this character, this vent being controlled by an appropriate type of valve 6 carried by one end of a balanced arm 7 which is supported by a suitable bracket rising from the top 4.'

Dependingfrom the arm 7 through an opening in the top, is an upright stem 8 whose lower end is connected in any appropriate manner to a thermostat 9 carried by a stirrup 10 which depends from said top. By this construction, when heat (created by means to be described) rises abo-ve apredetermined point, the thermostat will be eX- panded thereby raising the valve .6 yto open thevent 5, thusslightly lowering the telnperature of the brooder, whereupon the thermostat will again contract allowing the valve to either entirely or partially close.

For the purpose of heating the interior of the casing 1, a lamp 11 is provided, this lamp resting upon a block 12 in the lamp boX 13, which is located on the exterior of said casing, this boX being provided with a hinged door 14 and with a vent 15 which leads from the interior of Vsaid casing 1. i By so positioning the vent, all draft air for the lamp is drawn from theinterior of the casing 1, thus preventing forcible drafts ofA air, prevalent upon the `exterior thereof, kfrom extinguishing the light. V

Rising through an opening in the top of the lamp boX 13, is an upright tube 16 which is connected to one end of a horizontal heating pipe 17, this end of the pipe projecting through an opening in the side of the casing 1 and being surrounded by galvanized iron plates 18, whereby it is held against contact with the woodwork. If desired, the portion of this end of the pipe which passes through the opening in the casing, may be insulated with asbestos, but if it is spaced an appropriate distance from the wall of saidopening, this insulation is unnecessary. The opposite end ofthe heating pipe 17 is turned upwardly and is supported in any suitable manner, its upturned end discharging through the hot air vent 5, as most clearly seen in Fig. 4, while the intermediate portion of said heating pipe is enlarged asseen at 19fto provideadditional heating area.

Formed through the front wall of the casing 1, is one or more inlet openings 25, these openings being spaced a considerableY distance upwardly from the bottom of said casing, while likewise disposed in Said front wall, but at a much lower point, is an outlet opening 26. This last-named opening communicates with the interior of a housing 27, whose-front end is open while its upper end is closed by an inclined top 28 as most clearly seen in Fig. l. Hinged between the side walls of the housing 27, upon longitudinal horizontally extending pivots, whereby it may Swing upwardly'and downwardly, is a closure 29, which closure is hinged at a point above the outlet opening 26, while likewise hinged within said housing at a point adjacent the lower end of said outlet opening, is a depressible platform or tray 30. The forward edge of this tray is connected by links 3l to the rear edge of the closure 29, whereby, although the latter is normally swung downwardly by its own weight until it abuts the forward edge of the platform, which latter is then raised, depression of this Y platform from the position seen in Fig. 2a

to that seen in Fig. 8a will raise said closure as shown in the last-named figure. Located within the casing 1 and hinged at 35 to the rear side wall thereof, is a pan shaped. depressible tray 36 whose side walls lie contiguous to the various side walls of said casing. The lower edge portion of the front wall 37 of this tray, however, is cut away as seen at 37 to provide a slot, which, when the brooder is empty (see Fig. 2) alines with the inlet openings 25 to allow the chicks to enter the brooder, whereas when the tray is depressed to the position seen in Fig. 3, the upper unmutilated portion of the front wall 87 closes the openings 25 to prevent the exit of the chickens therethrough. Furthermore, when this tray stands in its normally raised position, the outlet opening is disposed below the same, but the moment this tray is depressed by the weight of the fowls thereon, the outlet opening is exposed, thus making it possible for the poultry to walk therefrom onto the supplemental depressible platform or tray 30, whereupon the closure 29 will be raised to allow them t0 leave the brooder.

For the purpose of retaining the tray 86 in its raised position, the front wall thereof is connected to one end of a cable 40 which pounds,1nay be located on the rod 42. By4

this means, when chickens weighing a predetermined amount have entered the brooder through the inlet openings 25, the tray 8G will be depressed, thus closing these openings but exposing the outlet opening as hereinbefore suggested. When now any of the confined chickens leave the brooder through the outlet opening, the weight 43 will, of course, overbalance the weight of the chickens remaining in the brooder whereupon the tray 36 will again return to its raised position, thus allowing the remainder of the chicks to leave the brooder through the inlet openings 25 as will be clear by an inspection of the drawings.

In addition to the parts so far described, the closure 29 is preferably provided with a transparent panel, thus allowing confined chickens to readily ascertain when weather conditions are suitable for allowing them to leave the hover.

A still further feature with which the device may be equipped, is a woolen strip 50 which is secured to the upright walls of the casing and depends within and in contact with the sides of the tray, whereby to exclude cold air.

In the preceding, I have described but one brooder or one unit, any number of which may be assembled, such for instance, as seen in Fig. 5, in which four of such units U are shown as assembled in a square formation. Vhen the device is constructed in this manner, a pair of upright crossed partitions P,are provided to separate the various units. these partitions being here shown as formed of screen wire and as being intersected by the heating pipe P. By this structure, the partitions also serve to more evenly distribute the heat from said pipe.

I claim:

l. A brooder comprising a casing, a depressible tray therein, a relatively high inlet into said casing above the normal position of the tray, a relatively low outlet from the casing below such normal position of the tray, means operable upon depression of the tray to close the inlet, a housing extending outwardly from the outlet, a downwardly and outwardly inclined verticallv swinging closure pivoted near its upper edge in said housing whereby said closure may be normally positioned by gravity, an upwardly and outwardly inclining depressible platform hinged at its inner edge adjacent the lower side of the outlet and having its outer edge normally in contact with the lower edge of the closure, and a link pivoted to the outer edge of the platform at its lower end and to the upper edge of the closure at its upper end.

2. The combination with a casing having an outlet, and a housing extending outwardly from said outlet; of a downwardly and outwardly inclined vertically swinging closure pivoted near its upper edge in said housing whereby said closure may be normally positioned by gravity, an! upwardly and outwardly inclining depressible platform hinged at its inner edge adjacent the lower side of the outlet and having its upper edge normally in Contact with the lower edge of the closure, and a link pivoted to the outer edge of the platform at its lower end and to nesses.

EDWARD ROWE. Witnesses:

I. SAUGEN, JOHN TRAFFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

